Truth, Thorns, and Tenderness
Episode -------34
Dawn broke over Kolkata like a bruise — pale light spilling across ruin and rubble, painting blood and broken stone in soft, deceptive gold.
The warehouse smelled of gunpowder, wet iron, and rain-soaked earth. Raian stood over Zayid's body, breath ragged, wounds still bleeding, eyes hollow.
For a moment, he looked not like the cold mafia boss Aria had first met — but like a man undone by ghosts only he could see.
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Ayan leaned against a cracked pillar, sword hanging limp in his hand. Lina hovered close, bruises darkening on her cheek, rain dripping from her tangled hair.
Aria stepped toward Raian, each breath sharp with fear and love.
"Raian," she whispered.
His gaze lifted — storm-grey and raw, lost between guilt and relief.
"I thought killing him would end it," he rasped, voice as rough as broken stone. "But it feels emptier than I imagined."
Aria swallowed, the words trembling in her chest. "Because hate only fills you until it leaves you hollow," she whispered.
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Behind them, Ayan's gaze swept the ruin, every shadow a threat. "They won't stay scattered for long," he rasped, blood soaking through the bandage on his thigh.
Raian's jaw tightened. "Then we go before they regroup."
Lina helped steady Ayan, though her own hands trembled. "Where will we go?"
"Somewhere safer," Raian murmured, though the way his gaze flickered said he wasn't certain safety still existed.
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They stepped into the dawn, boots splashing through water tinged pink by blood.
Outside, the city exhaled steam and smoke, unaware of the war that had burned through the night.
As they moved, Aria fell in beside Raian, voice soft but steady. "You said this place belonged to your father."
He stiffened, breath catching. "Yes."
"And you killed him?" she asked, softer still, though each word tasted of iron and fear.
Raian's gaze stayed ahead, but his voice dropped low. "He was going to kill Zayid's mother. I stopped him."
Aria's breath caught. "You killed to save her?"
"Yes," Raian rasped, shame cracking his voice. "But in doing so, I destroyed everything he built. And Zayid… never forgave me."
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Rain softened into a grey mist as the city woke. Horns blared; shop shutters clanged open. Life, as always, moved on — blind to blood spilled in its shadows.
Raian's steps slowed. "I've lived with that guilt every day," he murmured. "And still built my own empire on violence. I became what I hated."
Aria's hand found his, blood-slick and trembling. "But you saved me," she whispered. "Doesn't that matter?"
"It does," Raian murmured, his thumb brushing over her bruised skin. "More than I thought anything could."
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Behind them, Lina helped Ayan down a cracked alley, each step heavy with pain.
"Stop pretending it doesn't hurt," Lina snapped, voice rough.
Ayan's lips twitched — the ghost of his old stubborn grin. "It hurts like hell," he admitted.
"Then lean on me," she whispered, voice cracking.
"I already do," he murmured, softer than the wind.
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They paused under a broken archway, breath steaming in the cool dawn. Lina touched the blood-soaked cloth on Ayan's thigh. "We need to stop it bleeding," she said.
"I'll manage," Ayan rasped.
"You always say that," Lina hissed, tears blurring her sight. "Until you can't."
His hand lifted, thumb brushing away one falling tear. "I'm still here," he whispered.
"For how long?" she breathed. "What if next time… you don't stop yourself?"
Ayan's gaze darkened, haunted. "Then I pray you'll still pull me back."
"I will," she whispered. "Even if it breaks me."
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Further down the street, Raian leaned against a rain-damp wall, chest heaving from pain and exhaustion.
Aria pressed closer, fingertips brushing his blood-soaked shirt. "You need a hospital," she urged, voice shaking.
"And paint a target on us all?" he murmured, lips twitching in bitter humor.
"I'm still your doctor," she whispered fiercely. "Let me help."
His gaze softened, the hard lines of his face cracking under weariness. "You already have," he murmured.
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In the soft light, Aria saw the man behind the mask — not just the ruthless boss, but the wounded son, the haunted lover.
"You think you're made of shadows," she whispered, voice barely above the breeze. "But you forget who stands beside you in the dark."
Raian's breath trembled. "And if you see too much?"
"Then I'll see it," she whispered back, tears blurring her sight. "And choose you anyway."
His hand rose, brushing wet hair from her forehead. "I don't deserve that," he rasped.
"Maybe," she breathed. "But you have it."
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For a heartbeat, dawn turned golden through the city haze — a light fragile and fleeting.
Raian pressed his forehead to hers, breath mingling. "Stay," he whispered. "Even if the worst of me rises again."
"I will," she whispered, voice breaking. "As long as you fight to come back."
"I swear," he murmured, voice raw as an open wound.
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Footsteps approached — Ayan and Lina, pale and battered, but standing.
Raian straightened, pain stiffening his posture. "We move. Before the city wakes fully."
"Where?" Ayan asked, voice low.
Raian's gaze hardened. "There's a safehouse in Howrah. Abandoned, but stocked."
"And after that?" Lina pressed, voice small but steady.
Raian hesitated. "After that… we decide if we keep running, or make them run."
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They stepped into the waking city — four shadows bound by blood, guilt, and stubborn hope.
As they moved, sirens wailed distantly, a reminder that dawn didn't bring forgiveness.
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Aria walked beside Raian, her hand brushing his, bruises throbbing but heart steady. "Tell me the rest," she whispered. "All of it. One day."
"I will," he murmured. "And if you can still love me after… then maybe there's hope for me yet."
Her answer was a silence more powerful than words — and the warmth of her hand refusing to let go.
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Behind them, Lina touched Ayan's arm. "Promise me something," she whispered.
"Anything," he rasped.
"When your darkness rises again… tell me before it wins."
Ayan's gaze lowered, voice hoarse. "I promise."
"And promise you'll let me fight it too," she whispered.
He swallowed, pain and fear warring in his eyes. "Then promise you won't leave," he breathed.
"I won't," she whispered, voice cracking. "Even if it scares me."
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Together, they disappeared into narrow lanes and shadowed alleys, past ruin and rising sun.
The war wasn't over.
But neither was the fight to hold onto what love had built — blood-stained, bruised, but alive.
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Teaser for Episode 35:
At the Howrah safehouse, Raian finally shares the truth Aria feared to hear — and a name from the past emerges, threatening to shatter what fragile trust they've built.